High-tech gadgets 2016: The Ehang 184 AAV
Featured

Some of the latest gadgets are ideas for completely new objects, performing new functions, and it is likely that we will see many in Milan during Design Week. Some of the latest concepts on the market seem outlandish and improbable, and some seem almost sadistic, such as the iQ alarm clock that, once it starts ringing, can only be stopped by solving a problem of logic. But there are some gadgets out there that don’t really do anything new: they just take an old function and do it differently, better, with more style.

Just when we thought drones were passé, here comes the ultimate drone. The Ehang 184 AAV (Autonomous Aerial Vehicle) doesn’t deliver your pharmaceuticals, or your book bought from Amazon. It delivers you. It has four arms with a total of eight rotors, and can carry one person with a case, flying at up to 500 metres altitude and at about 100 km/h. It doesn’t require any piloting skills: you just get in, select your destination, and then press the ‘take-off’ button. The craft is already functional, but it is likely to require changes in legislation in most countries to be operated. Price reportedly around €250,000. www.ehang.com